Type 19 Sindhu Class Destroyers
INC-sindhu.jpg

Ship Characteristics

Dimensions Length 455.9
Beam 58.5 ft
Draft 16.4 feet
Displacement 4,950 tons
Performance Speed (max) 32 knots
Speed (cruising) 20 knots
Endurance 7,000 nm @ 20 knots
Armament Guns 8 4.5 inch L50 Mark 6*, 16 37mm
Torpedoes 10 21"

Background

The Project 18 class were followed by a second class of six gun-armed destroyers that were laid down at Hinhdustan Shipyards, Goa Shipyard and Karachi as the yards came on-stream. They were built rather more quickly than the Project 18 class, the first being laid down in 1954 and entering service in 1960

Often described as a repeat Rana class, the Project 19 Sindhu class are actually a totally different design. They started their design process as a product of the redesign of the Project 18 class, to use locally-produced systems as far as possible. They were also the first product of the Indian Gibbs & Cox design office. Project 18, for all its rakish good looks was essentially a conventional WW2 style destroyer. They had very little in the way of decent radar and their long, lean hull form gave them high speed but limited seaworthiness. The Sindhu's were much beamier (they had their torpedo tubes winged out) and slower but much more seaworthy. However, the important change was amidships. The ships were fitted with a large conical mast that carried a large and powerful air search radar. In a very real sense, the Project 19 class represented the Indian Navy's bridge between the old warship concepts of WW2 and the dawning new age of electronics and missiles.

On 4,950 tons, the Project 19 class carried the same armament as the Project 18 class but took 85,000 shp to gain a maximum speed of 32 knots. However, whereas the Project 18s could only achieve their full speed in smooth water, the 19s were renowned for their ability to maintain speed in poor weather. Under most conditions, Project 18 and Project 19 were comparable in speed. The prominent radar amidships lead to some speculation that these ships were intended to act as radar picket ships for India's two aircraft carriers but this was misleading. In fact, the Project 19s, as well as the Project 18s, were intended to work with the Indian Navy's new Surface Action Groups, built around the Mysore class cruisers.

Class Members

Name Ordered Laid Down Launched Commissioned Fate
Sindhughosh 1953 1954 1958 1960
Sindhudhvaj 1953 1954 1958 1960
Sindhuraj 1953 1955 1959 1961
Sindhuvir 1954 1955 1959 1961
Sindhuratna 1954 1956 1960 1962
Sindhukesari 1954 1956 1960 1962
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License